Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Well here I am, single on Valentine’s Day for the umpteenth year in a row... However, I am featured in FORBES again today, so I think I’ll be just fine ;)

All joking aside, I wanted to let you all know that I accept these interview requests and post these stories not to toot my own horn, but to help folks. Every time an article comes out in a major publication, I get an influx of emails from you guys. Finances are a very private matter for most, but I am grateful for those of you that have the courage to ask for help. Some of y'all send me emails longer than I know what to do with and some merely ask one simple question; I love both kinds. Some of you I can help, some of you I can’t. It might take a few weeks, but I try and reply to everyone because I know exactly how you feel.

If you would’ve told me in high school that I’d have a 2 part feature in FORBES at the age of 29, I for sure would’ve thought the subject would be around music, not finances. So believe me, I've had my share of humble pie along this journey of mine, but if I can help just one person, it’s worth it. Is this the story I would have written for myself? Uh, no. But I didn’t write it, He did; and for that I choose to be grateful and agree to share my experience with anyone who genuinely wants to know.

Shout-out to Zack Friedman at Forbes for publishing this interview as well as letting me be a part of his podcast on Make Lemonade (coming soon)!

Clickhere to read Part 1 of my interview with ForbesClick here to read Part 2 of my interview with Forbes

Click here to read the same Part 1 article on Make LemonadeClick here to read the same Part 2 article on Make Lemonade

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Here's the budget of a 29-year-old who finished
paying over $100,000 of student loans

Two updates as to where I am since paying off my loans a few months ago was written up by Libby Kane and published in Business Insider. Their audience is not hesitant at all to write to me and tell me all about their own debt journeys while asking for a quick piece of advice on an area they may be struggling with. I love connecting with them! I have SO MUCH to learn in this big world of finances, but the things I have learned so far, I am always willing to share.

I love the folks that realize I am a 29 year old woman who assessed her situation and did what she thought was best for her. And that’s all I did. I am not cramming advice down throats, I am not saying it is my way or the highway. I do me. You do you. If you look at my journey and you want yours to resemble mine, awesome! Let me know if I can help. If you look at my journey and want nothing to do with it, also awesome! I hope we all win with money in this life no matter the approach we take to get there. I simply happened to start blogging about my journey on that faithful August 1st Sunday back in 2010; the day I was struggling the hardest and decided to find an (anonymous) outlet for my student loan battle.

For those just reading about my story from the latest Business Insider article wanting more detailed information on my budget, click here to read where I elaborated on the first BI article that was published on my budget.

Also, between us, I spelled 'restaurant' wrong in my now public budget (Ha!)

Click here to read the latest main Business Insider article: "Here's the budget of a 29-year-old who finished paying off over $100,000 of student loans"

Monday, February 6, 2017

Over the course of my pay-off journey, so many people asked me what I would do to celebrate and my answer was always, “PARTY!” So, party I did; on December 9th, in-between all of the holiday craziness, I hosted some of my closest friends at my home in Nashville. The name of the party was, “Cheers to Breaking up with My Bae, Sallie Mae!”, and the theme was obviously money. The night was filled with tons of chocolate gold coins, play money, Hundred Grand chocolate bars, mint cupcakes, confetti and champagne. I also had gigantic gold balloons that read 113K floating around the party. We drank and partied the night away listening to a playlist full of songs across all decades and genres about money such as: We Don’t Need No Education, If I Was A Rich Girl, All I Do Is Win, Workin’ 9 to 5, She Works Hard For The Money, and Bills Bills Bills.

2016 was a tad rocky for some folks, but in order to think about it on a positive note, I will forever remember it as the year I paid off my student loans. We are a little over 2 weeks into the new year, and I am already loving this new found freedom; there are still a lot of goals still to be completed, but with step one out of the way, they are seaming more and more possible. Cheers to all of the adventures ahead in 2017 :)